Leo’s first night in Morva was harsh both physically and mentally, but he was glad they had managed to form a theory early, even if it was incomplete, because it helped them avoid walking completely blind into unknown dangers.

As far as the theory went, it still was not enough to fully explain everything. Even so, with Nightwalker’s input, they were able to narrow it down to a possibility that Miss Krystal might be trying to alter the course of history.

It still did not make sense why she was using newly awakened students, so Leo did not fully trust the theory, though a part of him felt it might still be correct.

Leo rubbed his eyes, which already looked sunken with dark circles forming underneath. He had not been able to sleep at all, so he stayed on guard with Lucien, while Nightwalker, unexpectedly, decided to sleep and ended up disturbing most of the students with his snoring.

Leo was at least glad that his snoring did not attract any danger.

Lucien and Leo, after reassessing their situation once more and still failing to reach a final conclusion, prepared a simple plan and then decided to circulate Aura together.

Leo had also learned that it was called Aura Farming. If anything, the term felt a bit strange to him, almost comical.

He wondered if Aura Farming had any other meaning besides gathering a mysterious energy to improve oneself physically, mentally, and innately.

That said, he was still able to make slight progress in controlling his circulation. Lucien turned out to be a good one-time teacher.

The blood-red sky was gone, replaced by the dim light of early morning filtering through Morva Forest. The dim red of the night slowly faded into a dull gray light that filtered weakly through the dense canopy above, leaving the forest in a muted state that seemed both eerie and beautiful.

He looked at the other end of the entrance and saw Lucien already dozing off. With a sigh, he walked towards the pink haired boy and hesistated before clicking his finger on Lucien’s forehead.

Lucien yelped slightly in pain as he immediately woke up. Noticing Leo he smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Leo didn’t reply and only pointed towards the students that were still sleeping.

Lucien yawned and stood up, stretching his whole body. He then summoned a small golden whistle and blew it. A small sonic that looked useless travelled across the cave and disappeared.

After a few seconds, the students and Nightwalker woke up abruptly as if they were disturbed by a loud noise.

Leo turned toward the group as the students fully woke up, their expressions still heavy with sleep and confusion from the sudden disruption. The cave was no longer quiet, and the early morning light now made everything feel more real and less forgiving. He took a moment to let the noise settle before speaking.

"We’re moving out soon," Leo said calmly. "First, we clean up, eat something, and get ourselves ready."

A few students exchanged tired looks but didn’t interrupt.

"We can’t stay in this cave for the next few days," he continued. "Not if we want to survive whatever is happening in Morva. We already wasted enough time trying to understand it from inside one place."

Lucien stood beside him, listening quietly, while some of the students slowly began gathering their things. The idea of leaving the cave made them uneasy, but none of them argued directly.

Leo’s gaze shifted across them.

"With Nightwalker’s help, we’re going to start moving through Morva and look for the rest of the Seven Radiant Blades," he added. "If we can find them early, we might be able to change how this ends."

Even the students who were still unsure about everything had already seen enough to understand that staying still was not an option.

As they began preparing, Nightwalker quietly approached Leo from the side. The silver-haired man looked slightly more stable than before, though the exhaustion still lingered in his eyes. He watched Leo for a moment before speaking.

"I see you’re good at leadership."

Leo glanced at him briefly before replying with a small smirk. "Not to brag, but it’s kind of my thing."

Nightwalker gave a faint smile, but Leo’s expression quickly shifted into something more serious. "You’re acting like this is nothing," he said. "But your entire team is heading toward extinction if we don’t do something. This isn’t a normal situation you can brush off."

Nightwalker’s smile didn’t fade. Instead, he simply turned away and started walking.

"We won’t die," he said calmly. "Trust me. I know Krystal."

Leo watched him go, his expression tightening slightly as the words settled in.

As everyone got ready, a voice echoed across the cave. "Why should we follow your orders?!"

The moment the voice echoed across the cave, most of the students immediately turned toward its source.

A tall boy with short brown hair slowly stepped forward from near the back of the cave with an annoyed expression on his face. His armor looked heavily damaged from the previous day while one of his arms was still wrapped in healing bandages.

"We barely survived one night," he continued. "And now suddenly you’re acting like the leader of everyone here?"

Several students shifted awkwardly after hearing that, though none interrupted him.

The boy pointed directly at Leo.

"You keep making decisions for everybody without even explaining why we should trust you."

Lucien frowned slightly beside Leo while Yin Li quietly muttered from the side.

"Ah. There it is."

Leo himself remained calm.

The brown-haired boy scoffed after seeing no immediate reaction. "You’re strong. Fine. You’re a Royal. Fine. I’m also one but being strong doesn’t suddenly make you qualified to lead people."

A few students slowly nodded after hearing that.

Honestly, the concern itself was not unreasonable.

Most of them had only known each other for less than a day. The situation inside Morva was already insane enough without blindly following another awakened student simply because he seemed calm under pressure.

Leo stared at the boy quietly for a few seconds before finally speaking.

"You’re right."

The answer immediately surprised several people inside the cave.

The brown-haired boy himself looked caught off guard briefly.

Leo crossed his arms calmly. "I never said you had to trust me." He glanced around the cave afterward. "And I never claimed to be some great leader either."

"Then why are you giving orders?" the boy shot back immediately.

"Because someone has to." Leo replied without hesitation. "Or do you want thirty to fifty confused students arguing inside a cave while Eldrath creatures roam outside? We dont know if we will truly die or just fail the test if we get killed in the forest but still the two options are not good so we have to work together."

Leo paused then continued calmly.

"We already know staying here too long is dangerous. We already know Morva is changing constantly. And now we also know there’s a chance the Seven Radiant Blades are still alive somewhere inside this reconstruction." He looked directly at the boy again. "So unless someone else has a better plan, we move."

The brown-haired boy frowned but did not interrupt this time.

Leo’s expression remained steady.

"You don’t have to follow me." He shrugged lightly. "Nobody here is forcing you."

That sentence caused several students to exchange looks again.

"However," Leo added calmly, "if you separate from the group inside a place like Morva, don’t expect everyone else to risk themselves trying to save you afterward."

The bluntness of his words made the atmosphere tense briefly.

Yin Li suddenly raised his hand from the side. "Personally, I support the scary red-haired dictator Leo because he had kept me alive." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Thank you, Yin Li," Lucien said dryly.

"You’re welcome." He answered back, stupidly.

A few students laughed quietly, easing the tension slightly.

The brown-haired boy stayed silent for several more seconds before clicking his tongue and looking away.

Leo didn’t care whether the boy liked him or not. What mattered now was movement, survival, and keeping the group stable long enough to understand what Morva truly was.

And deep down, Leo already knew things were only going to become worse from here onward.

Nightwalker who had been watching the banter amongst the students with a smirk suddenly summoned back his sword causing the students to turn towards him.

"Leo isn’t the leader. I am." He said with a cold and reassuring tone.

He paused and glanced around. "Yet, I need your cooperation to help me and my team stay alive and also keep you alive. I’m not sure if keeping us alive will truly change our fate but its worth the try. Ah, okay, Leo should be the leader but I’ll be his guard. And if anyone tries to rebel and foul our plans."

He paused as his appearance suddenly became cold. His voice also became deep and cold.

"I’ll kill you."